Chusetts



(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1.

H. D. & D. W. SWIFT. ENVELOPE MACHINE.

N0. 545,317. Patented Aug. 27,1895

(No Model.) I 2 ShetsS hee t 2. H. D. & D. W. SWIFT.

ENVELOPE MACHINE.

No." 545,317. Patented .Aug. 27,1895.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY D. SWIFT AND DANIEL WVIIEELER SIVIFT, OF WORCESTER, MASSA- CHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE LOGAN, SWIFT & BRIGI'IAM ENVELOPE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

ENVELOPE-MACH INE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 545,317, dated August 27, 1 89 5.

Application filed April 2 1, 1 8 90.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HENRY D. SWIFT and DANIEL WHEELER SWIFT, citizens of the United States, and residents of Vorcester,

in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Envelope-Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawro ings, in which' Figure 1 is a view of such portion of an envelope-machine as embodies our invention, the operating parts being represented in side view. Fig. 2 is a front view of the same. Fig.

3 is a top View of one of the actuating-cams, together with those operating parts directly connected therewith. Fig. 4 is a side view of the tripping-finger, by means of which the passage of an envelope into the till is made 2o to actuate the counting mechanism; and Fig.

5 is atop View of the same. Fig. 6 is a perspective view-of the rocking shaft J and of the parts carried by said shaft. Fig. 7 is a perspective View of shaft I and of the parts carried upon said shaft. Fig.8 is a sectional View on line 8 8, Fig. 2; and Fig. 9 is a sectional view on the same plane as that shown in Fig. 8, but looking in the opposite direction.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in the difierent figures.

Our present invention relates to that part of an en velope-machine which is employed in the operation of counting the finished envel- 3 5 opes; and in the accompanying drawings we have shown only such parts as are directly concerned in the operation of counting the envelopes. The remaining parts of the ma chine not forming a part of our invention may be of any known contruction.

In Fig. l of the drawings, A denotes that portion of an envelope-machine commonly known as the table, upon which the mechanism for gumming and folding the envelopeblank is usually supported.

B represents the bed upon which the envelope-blank is folded.

O is an inclined chute through which the folded envelopes pass downward into a pocket Serial No. 348,938. (No model.)

C (not shown) in alignment with one of the series of pockets in the rotating drier D, which consists of a drum D with an outer flange D from which the fingers D project laterally, the spaces between the fingers forming pockets in which the envelopes are held during the rotation of the drier with their edges projecting radially from the drier, as indicated by thebroken line D, Fig. 2, and in position to be engaged by the fingers of the envelope carrier, as hereinafter set forth. The rotat- 6o ing drier D has an intermittent motion in the direction of the arrow 1, Fig. 1, by means of a pawl-and-ratchet device or other equivalent mechanism, which is not shown in the drawings. 6

E is the main shaft of the machine carrying the several cams by which the operating parts of the machine are actuated. Sliding in a way formed in the table A is a bar F, forming the envelope-carrier, to which a reciprocating .motion is imparted by means of a vibrating lever F, attached to the sleeve F which is pivoted on a stud F projecting downward from the table A. From the lower end of the sleeve F an arm F extends forward, carrying a cam-roll, (shown by broken lines F Figs. 1 and 3,) which rests against the side of the cam F on the main shaft E.

To the sliding envelope-carrierF We'attach the finger a, by which the envelope is engaged So and carried or pushedinto one of the pockets or spaces between the fingers D The sliding envelope-carrier F also carries a finger l), which serves to push the envelope out of the drier and in front of a pusher-blade G, attached to the upper arm of the bell-crank lever G, to which a reciprocating motion is imparted by means of the cam G acting on the lower arm G of the bell-crank lever to depress said arm G which is raised by the spring G in the op- 0 eration of carrying the envelope forward into the till H. Projecting from the end of the till H are the bars H, with their upper surfaces flush with the floor of the till to support the envelope during the forward movement of the pusher-blade G.

Attached to theshaft I, journaled in the framework of the machine, is a ratchet-wheel 1, containing twenty-five teeth and to which of a cam l on the main shaft Eand a spring I through the bell-crank lever 1 and pawl l, pivoted on the short arm of the lever I". Journaled in the frame of the machine below the shaft I we place a rocking shaft J, to which is attached the tripping-finger J, which is curved upwardly and bifurcated, forming the two prongs c 0, extending into the path of the envelope as it is carried forward into the till H. To the arm J of the tripping-finger is pivoted the bar J bent at J and having a spring J so attached that when the trippingiinger is raised, as shown in the drawings, the line of strain exerted by the spring will pass below the center of the shaft J, as shown in Fig. 4, having a tendency to draw the arm J downward, rocking the shaft J and carrying the arm J against the weighted arm 1 of the pawl 1 depressing the pawl and disengaging it from the ratchet -wheel 1'. blade G is provided with the notches d d to allow it to pass the prongs c cwithout moving the tripping-finger. \Vhen an envelope is interposed between the pusher-blade and the prongs 0c, the forward movement of the blade G will carry the prongs c 0 forward, raising the arm J until the strain of the spring J is brought above the center of the rocking shaftJ, when the tension of the spring will raise the arm J and throw the prongs c c downward below the path of the advancing envelope, rocking the shaftJ and withdrawing the arm J from the weighted arm I and allowing the pawl to rise and engage a tooth of the ratchet-wheel as it is moved forward by the action of the cam 1 The ratchetwheel I is thus moved one tooth as the pusher-blade G advances to carry the envelope into the till H. When the pusher-blade G is moved back by the action of the cam G a pin 6, extending from the side of the upper arm G, is brought in contact with an arm J attached to and extending upward from the rocking shaft J, by which the shaftJis rocked, carrying the prongs c c of the tripping-lever upwardinto the path of the envelope and bringing the short arm J against the weighted arm 1, again releasing the pawl 1 from the teeth of the ratchet-wheel 1". So long as the pusher-blade advances without an envelope in front of it it will passover the prongs c 0 without moving the trippingfinger; but in case an envelope is placed in front of the blades as it advances it will carry the prongs c 0 forward until the tension of the spring J rocks the shaft J, allowing the pawl l to engage the ratchet-wheel and move it forward one tooth.

On the finger a on the sliding envelope-carrier F is a pinf, projectinglaterally, which is brought in contact with the side of the ratchetwheel as the sliding envelope-carrier F is moved by the spring F Fig. 8, the ratchet serving as a stop-plate to limit the movement of the sliding bar as it carries the envelopes The pusher-' from the drier in front of the pusher-blade G. Each envelope is therefore left in exactly the same position in front of the blade (l, causing all the envelopes to be carried into the till in true alignment with each other. The sliding bar F is stopped by the ratchet, as described above, at a point a little short of the limit of the throw of the cam F, and the envelopes in the till are divided into bunches of twenty-five each, as follows: The ratchet l is provided with a hole g, which at each complete revolution of the ratchet wheel is brought into the path of the pin f, allowing the sliding bar F to pass a trifle farther as each twenty-fifth envelope is carried in front of the pusher-blade, the movement of the sliding bar being then limited by the cam F. Each twentyfifth envelope will therefore project a little beyond the rest of the euvelopes in the till and thereby mark them off into bunches of twenty-five in abunch. Thenumber of envelopes in a bunch can be readily varied by varying the number of teeth in the ratchet-wheel.

Having described in detail the construction of our improved counting mechanism for envelope-machines, its operat on may be briefly summarized as follows: \Vhen the folded envelope is delivered through the chute G into position in alignment with one of the pockets in the drier D, it is pushed by means of the finger a on the sliding bar F into the drier. The drier is then rotated the distance of one of the pockets, bringing the projecting edge of an envelopein the drier in front of the finger Z), which serves to carry the dried envelope out of the drier before the pusherblade G, which then advances, by means of the spring G, to carry the envelope into the till H. The envelope as it is moved forward by the pusher-blade is brought in contact with the prongs c c of the tripping-finger, earrying them forward and raising the arm J until the strain of the spring J is brought above the center of the rocking-shaft J, when the shaft J is suddenly rocked, carrying the prongs c 0 out of the path of the advancing envelope and removing the short arm J G from beneath the weighted arm I" and allowing the pawl l to engage and move the ratchet-wheel one tooth while the envelope is being carried into the till 1-1. As the pusher-blade moves back again the projecting pin 6 will engage the arm J rocking the shaft J, raising the prongs c 0 into the position to be again moved by an advancing envelope and bringing the short arm J 6 in contact with the weighted arm 1 thereby withdrawing the pawl I from the teeth of the ratchet-wheel 1.

The employment in the counting mechanism of an envelope-machine, of a ratchetwheel intermittently rotated by a weighted pawl which is carried into engagement with the ratchet-wheel by gravity, and a rockingshaft having an attached finger interposed in the path of the envelope as it is pushed into the till whereby the shaft is rocked, and an arm carried by said rocking shaft arranged to bear against the weighted pawl and disengage it from the ratchet-wheel, except as an envelope passes into the till, and withdraw the arm from the pawl by the rocking of the shaft, forms no part of our present invention, the above-mentioned features having been shown and claimed in our pending applica tion, Serial No. 199,954, filed April 23, 1886.

It has been customary heretofore in the counting mechanism of envelope-ma chines to either carry the twenty-fifth envelope beyond the remaining envelopes in the till by an independent mechanism from that employed in placing the envelope in front of the pusherblade or by an oblique guide-bar against which the envelope was pushed as it was carried into the till by the pusher-blade.

The essential feature of our present invention consists in the use of an envelope-carrier having a variable motion whereby the envelopes are placed in difierent positions in front of the pusher-blade. The pin e in our present construction also acts upon an arm J 7 extending at nearly right angles upward from the rocking shaft J and at nearly right angles to the motion of the pin 6, so that the shaft J will be rocked by a slight movement of the lever G and pin 6.

WVhat we claim as of our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an envelope machine, the combination with a till to receive the finished envelopes, of a pusher blade having a reciprocating inotion to carry the envelopes into said till, and a reciprocating envelope carrier by which the finished envelopes are brought in front of said pusher blade, said envelope carrier havinga variable motion, whereby certain of the envelopes are placed in a different position in front of said pusher blade, substantially as described.

2. The combination, in an envelope machine, of a till to receive the envelopes, a reciprocating pusher blade, to carry the envelopes into said till, an envelope carrier by which the envelopes are carried in front of said pusher blade, and a stop plate by which the motion of said carrier is limited and the position of the envelopes thereby determined, substantially as described.

3. In an envelope machine, the combination with a till to receive the finished envelopes, a'reciprocating pusher blade, by which the envelopes are carried into said till and an envelope carrier by which the envelopes are placed in front of said pusher blade, of a stop plate by which the motion of said carrier is limited, said stop-plate being provided with an aperture whereby. the motion of said carrier is varied, substantially as described.

4. In anenvelope machine, the combination with a till to receive the envelopes, an envelope carrier, by which the envelopes are carried into said till, and a stop plate for limiting the motion of said carrier, said stop plate consisting of a wheel rotated by a series of intermittent motions equaling the number of envelopes in a bunch, and being provided with an aperture, whereby the carrier is allowed to carry certain of the envelopes farther than the envelopes which constitute the bunch, substantially as described.

Dated the 16th day of April, 1890.

HENRY D. SWIFT. DANIEL IVHEELER SlVIFT.

.Witnesses:

ARTHUR H. SWIFT, RUFUS B. FOWLER. 

